Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1887-01-16

lBy Paul Passnor, In Musical Herald. |
TIE beginnings Of music, a. Of svery
art. are 80 be sought In mature. Un-
written music came before written ma
siest bird esnR before the ress3ad7s; the
vail Of the Wind In the forest before the
dirgs; the ''innumershls voices" and
the silvery tinkle Of the woodland
brook before maass first initiative A.
sempts as melody. Even In the pres.
ems high Development Of the art Of
sausic, ws may stiii traee these simple,
intuitive beQinBinQs. TIE music fe
Sonsidefed the finest add truest Which
suggests nature. which Affects ua 90 do
The voices Of nature. BE. to0. the hiRh-
ess form Of re Productive art. of whaaeVer
kind,is TO initiate The sights and souzda,
the physical impressions We get from
nature, with Q fidelity which makes
them seem real. In fact, We refer art 20
nature. as the soundest method OF crit
icisA. We recognise the fact that art,
no matter how hignly developed, has
lee beginnings IN the natural, visible
wVrld about "a.
The study Of this upwritten music
this music In nature 10 which have re-
ferred-is one Of the most fascinating OF
employments. IL leads enc TO make
most charming discoveries, 60 trace out
relations between the expressed and the
unexpressed W.T. len else were never
dreamed Of. To take simple instance:
have found the beginninga-the key
notes, If you choose, sometimes an en-
tire bar-of several Of the most beauti-
full of our standard operate airs sa the
Songs Of birds. There Is one bird am
nos naturalist enough 70 name it) which
sings 50 manv notes of a popular ar
that / am irrssistibly impelled, when
ever hear il, 30 whistle ous the meas-
ure. This bird is q sly haunteE Of moist,
tangled cover; and l have never been
able 70 approach near enough 20 make
0ul its plamaae or its shape. Bat it IL
BY no means the only bird whose seng
suggests some musical passage. The
robin has q song which 1t sometimes
eings In the deep wo6ds, or away. at
least. from dwellings and the hustle Of
the busy world, that is extremely musi-
cal, aud which | am sure, must some
where have been reproduced in compo-
sition, though ! have mos boon able to
identify it.
The music Of nature b. OF course,
merely fragnsentary, documentary. Il
suggests, bat does not satisfy. The
moaning OF the wind in the trees 10 not
D dirge, bat 10 suggests dirge. Il has
the inspiration Of funeral music In 10.
Tue melodies Of nature are 90 best
Eolian, inooherent, and broken; bnt ID
10 from them that she sraly poetic con-
poser gets his ideas. And the nearer
be approaches these very melodies In
the fidelity of his repFedactien, while
solving and completing them. abe more
Niil his music stir She hearts and reuse
The imaginations Of men.
The Tar, with little practices and by
mesns Of Q habit Of attention, can read
Il detect muse In nearly ali the pless-
aut sounds Of neture. The planh Of the
waves On q rocky beach, The voices Of
tbe stirring leaves. the chorus fFem the
{ col and the Helds h summer evec-
inss, tue repeassd cries u all the an
innate crsatioE-- hess and Q thousand
ether sounds and murmuFs are fun Of
unwsitien music. We live and move in
q vass eudisoriun. where Code musi-
clans are always playing 70 ne, II We
viii bat listen. Oar greatest compoa-
ere aEs cur beas listeners